The short answer
DHEA-S is a hormone your adrenal glands make, which your body can turn into testosterone and estrogen.4,5 It peaks between ages 20 and 30 and falls gradually after, so a normal result depends on your age and sex.1,5
- A normal result
- Within Labcorp’s range for your age and sex. For women aged 25 to 34, that’s 84.8 to 378 µg/dL; for men the same age, 138.5 to 475.2.1
Check your result
Type the number from your report. It stays on this page.
- Low for your age Under 110.0
- Normal 110.0 to 433.2
- Above range 433.3 to 699.9
- Very high 700.0 or more
- Low for your age Under 110.0
- Normal 110.0 to 431.7
- Above range 431.8 to 699.9
- Very high 700.0 or more
- Low for your age Under 84.8
- Normal 84.8 to 378.0
- Above range 378.1 to 699.9
- Very high 700.0 or more
- Low for your age Under 57.3
- Normal 57.3 to 279.2
- Above range 279.3 to 699.9
- Very high 700.0 or more
- Low for your age Under 41.2
- Normal 41.2 to 243.7
- Above range 243.8 to 699.9
- Very high 700.0 or more
- Low for your age Under 29.4
- Normal 29.4 to 220.5
- Above range 220.6 to 699.9
- Very high 700.0 or more
- Low for your age Under 20.4
- Normal 20.4 to 186.6
- Above range 186.7 to 699.9
- Very high 700.0 or more
- Low for your age Under 13.9
- Normal 13.9 to 142.8
- Above range 142.9 to 699.9
- Very high 700.0 or more
- Low for your age Under 115.3
- Normal 115.3 to 459.6
- Above range 459.7 to 699.9
- Very high 700.0 or more
- Low for your age Under 164.3
- Normal 164.3 to 530.5
- Above range 530.6 to 699.9
- Very high 700.0 or more
- Low for your age Under 138.5
- Normal 138.5 to 475.2
- Above range 475.3 to 699.9
- Very high 700.0 or more
- Low for your age Under 102.6
- Normal 102.6 to 416.3
- Above range 416.4 to 699.9
- Very high 700.0 or more
- Low for your age Under 71.6
- Normal 71.6 to 375.4
- Above range 375.5 to 699.9
- Very high 700.0 or more
- Low for your age Under 48.9
- Normal 48.9 to 344.2
- Above range 344.3 to 699.9
- Very high 700.0 or more
- Low for your age Under 30.9
- Normal 30.9 to 295.6
- Above range 295.7 to 699.9
- Very high 700.0 or more
- Low for your age Under 20.8
- Normal 20.8 to 226.4
- Above range 226.5 to 699.9
- Very high 700.0 or more
Enter your result to see what it means and what to do next.
Got a result from another lab? Ask Picardo about it. The app explains your results, and a physician can follow up.
Ranges are Labcorp’s, measured by immunoassay and drawn from 1990s reference texts.1 Guidelines prefer mass spectrometry, so a result near a cut point is less certain.2 The 700 line comes from an ungraded remark in the Endocrine Society’s hirsutism guideline, which also says the level alone predicts a tumor poorly.3 The bar isn’t to scale.
Below the range for your age
Usually this isn’t a problem. Many healthy people, especially older people, sit below these ranges, and steroid medicines lower it.4,5 A result well below the range can be an early sign that your adrenal glands aren’t working properly, though it can’t show that on its own, especially in older people.5 Less often, it’s a sign of an adrenal growth making too much cortisol.4
Not a worry on its own.
- 1 If you take a steroid medicine, that’s the likely reason.4 The same effect can lower your cortisol, so don’t stop a long-term steroid suddenly, and ask whether you need a morning cortisol test when you come off it.10
- 2 If you’re tired, losing weight, dizzy when you stand or craving salt, ask about a morning cortisol test.5
- 3 Don’t take DHEA to raise the number. In a two-year trial in older adults, it brought no meaningful benefit.9
In the normal range for your age
Your adrenal glands are making a typical amount for someone your age and sex.1 If you’re being checked for excess hair or PCOS, testosterone is the main test, and DHEA-S is a second-line check.2
Nothing to worry about.
- 1 Nothing to do.
- 2 If you have excess hair, acne or irregular periods, make sure your testosterone has been checked too.2
Above the range for your age
In women, the most common cause is PCOS.6 Taking DHEA raises it too.9 Less often, it’s congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), an inherited condition of the adrenal glands.1 If your free testosterone is normal, a mildly high DHEA-S is unlikely to change your treatment.3 Some tumors raise hormone levels only mildly, though, so how quickly symptoms came on matters more than the number.2 Most of this evidence comes from women. In a man who doesn’t take DHEA, a clinician will look for an adrenal cause.
Not urgent. Worth raising with a clinician, sooner if symptoms came on quickly or are getting worse fast.2
- 1 If you take DHEA, that’s the likely reason.9
- 2 Check testosterone if you haven’t, ideally by mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). It’s the main test for PCOS and excess hair.2
- 3 Ask about 17-OH progesterone, the test for the most common type of CAH, taken early in the morning and, if you have periods, early in your cycle.3
- 4 If you’re past menopause and have new or worsening excess hair, see a clinician soon. Guidelines advise checking for a hormone-making tumor.2
Very high: get it checked soon
For women, the Endocrine Society’s hirsutism guideline calls over 700 µg/dL “suggestive” of a hormone-making tumor, though it notes the level alone predicts a tumor poorly.3 In a study of 1,205 women tested for high male hormones (androgens), the most severe DHEA-S excess before menopause was mostly PCOS, but after menopause, every case was adrenal cancer.6 For men, 700 is above Labcorp’s range at every age.1 In anyone, a DHEA supplement raises it by hundreds of µg/dL.9
Unless you take DHEA, see a clinician within a week or two. It isn’t an emergency.
- 1 If you take DHEA, tell your clinician. It may explain the result.9
- 2 Add testosterone and androstenedione tests. In the same study, androstenedione was raised in every adrenal cancer, and only 60% raised DHEA-S.6
- 3 If you’re past menopause, or symptoms such as excess hair came on quickly, guidelines advise checking for a hormone-making tumor.2
What is a normal DHEA-S level?
DHEA-S falls with age, so Labcorp gives a separate range for each age group, for women and for men.1 Pick yours in the checker. A result falls into one of four groups:
Below the range for your age
Usually this isn’t a problem. Many healthy people, especially older people, sit below these ranges, and steroid medicines lower it.4,5 A result well below the range can be an early sign that your adrenal glands aren’t working properly, though it can’t show that on its own, especially in older people.5 Less often, it’s a sign of an adrenal growth making too much cortisol.4
Not a worry on its own.
- 1 If you take a steroid medicine, that’s the likely reason.4 The same effect can lower your cortisol, so don’t stop a long-term steroid suddenly, and ask whether you need a morning cortisol test when you come off it.10
- 2 If you’re tired, losing weight, dizzy when you stand or craving salt, ask about a morning cortisol test.5
- 3 Don’t take DHEA to raise the number. In a two-year trial in older adults, it brought no meaningful benefit.9
In the normal range for your age
Your adrenal glands are making a typical amount for someone your age and sex.1 If you’re being checked for excess hair or PCOS, testosterone is the main test, and DHEA-S is a second-line check.2
Nothing to worry about.
- 1 Nothing to do.
- 2 If you have excess hair, acne or irregular periods, make sure your testosterone has been checked too.2
Above the range for your age
In women, the most common cause is PCOS.6 Taking DHEA raises it too.9 Less often, it’s congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), an inherited condition of the adrenal glands.1 If your free testosterone is normal, a mildly high DHEA-S is unlikely to change your treatment.3 Some tumors raise hormone levels only mildly, though, so how quickly symptoms came on matters more than the number.2 Most of this evidence comes from women. In a man who doesn’t take DHEA, a clinician will look for an adrenal cause.
Not urgent. Worth raising with a clinician, sooner if symptoms came on quickly or are getting worse fast.2
- 1 If you take DHEA, that’s the likely reason.9
- 2 Check testosterone if you haven’t, ideally by mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). It’s the main test for PCOS and excess hair.2
- 3 Ask about 17-OH progesterone, the test for the most common type of CAH, taken early in the morning and, if you have periods, early in your cycle.3
- 4 If you’re past menopause and have new or worsening excess hair, see a clinician soon. Guidelines advise checking for a hormone-making tumor.2
Very high: get it checked soon
For women, the Endocrine Society’s hirsutism guideline calls over 700 µg/dL “suggestive” of a hormone-making tumor, though it notes the level alone predicts a tumor poorly.3 In a study of 1,205 women tested for high male hormones (androgens), the most severe DHEA-S excess before menopause was mostly PCOS, but after menopause, every case was adrenal cancer.6 For men, 700 is above Labcorp’s range at every age.1 In anyone, a DHEA supplement raises it by hundreds of µg/dL.9
Unless you take DHEA, see a clinician within a week or two. It isn’t an emergency.
- 1 If you take DHEA, tell your clinician. It may explain the result.9
- 2 Add testosterone and androstenedione tests. In the same study, androstenedione was raised in every adrenal cancer, and only 60% raised DHEA-S.6
- 3 If you’re past menopause, or symptoms such as excess hair came on quickly, guidelines advise checking for a hormone-making tumor.2
What is DHEA-S?
Think of DHEA-S as a stockpile of raw material. Your adrenal glands keep a large supply in your blood, and your body turns small amounts into testosterone and estrogen where it needs them. It isn’t a male hormone itself.4,5
DHEA-S is made in your adrenal glands. Its level barely changes from hour to hour, so unlike cortisol, the time of day you test matters little.1
Levels start rising from about age 7, peak between 20 and 30, then fall gradually.1,5 Men tend to have higher levels than women of the same age.1
What does a high DHEA-S mean?
The main causes:
- PCOS, the most common cause in women6
- Taking DHEA9
- Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), an inherited condition of the adrenal glands1
- A tumor of the adrenal glands or ovaries that makes male hormones2
Guidelines treat DHEA-S as a second-line test for PCOS, after testosterone, because it’s less specific.2 A mildly high DHEA-S with a normal free testosterone is unlikely to change your treatment.3 What matters more is how quickly symptoms like excess hair or acne came on. Some tumors raise hormone levels only mildly, so a fast change needs checking whatever the number.2
What does a low DHEA-S mean?
Most often, nothing. It falls naturally with age, and steroid medicines such as prednisone lower it.4,5 Labcorp’s own test notes say only high results matter clinically, though they also note it’s low in Addison’s disease.1
Adrenal specialists see it a little differently. A result well below the range for your age can be an early clue that your adrenal glands aren’t working properly, though it can’t diagnose that on its own.5 Less often, it points to an adrenal growth making too much cortisol.4
A low DHEA-S isn’t “androgen deficiency.” The Endocrine Society recommends against diagnosing that in healthy women, because no clear syndrome or link to symptoms has been shown.4
Do DHEA supplements help?
Taking DHEA raises DHEA-S. Whether it does you any good is another matter.
| Who | What the evidence shows |
|---|---|
| Older adults with low levels | Two years of DHEA brought no meaningful gain in body composition, strength, insulin sensitivity or quality of life, though bone density rose slightly at one site.9 |
| Women in general | The Endocrine Society recommends against it: the reasons to use it are unclear, and its benefits and long-term safety are unproven.4 |
| Women with adrenal insufficiency | Two Endocrine Society guidelines disagree. One recommends against routine use;4 a later one suggests a 6-month trial for women with Addison’s disease and low libido, mood or energy.5 |
| Women having IVF | Likely makes little or no difference to live births.7 Europe’s fertility society recommends against it.8 |
The adrenal insufficiency guidelines differ in strength too. The advice against is a strong recommendation on very weak evidence; the 6-month trial is a weak suggestion.4,5
If you take DHEA, your result mostly reflects the pills. In the two-year trial, it raised DHEA-S by a median of about 340 µg/dL in men and 380 in women.9
Who should get a DHEA-S test?
It’s worth checking if any of these apply to you:
- You’re a woman with excess hair, acne or irregular periods, and your testosterone isn’t high.2
- Excess hair or other signs of high male hormones came on quickly, or started after menopause.2
- A clinician suspects an adrenal problem, such as CAH or an adrenal tumor.1
It isn’t a test of aging, energy or libido, and a low result on its own isn’t a reason to take DHEA.4
How to get a DHEA-S test, and what it costs
A DHEA-S test costs $6.50 through Picardo.
- Results in 2 to 3 days, in the app
- Physician follow-up if you want one
- Free Labcorp draw, or $75 at home
- No other fees. HSA and FSA eligible.
It’s also part of the Base Core Annual – Men, Base Core Annual – Women and Fertility panels, if you’d rather test more at once.
Already have a result? Ask Picardo about itQuestions people ask
Does DHEA-S fall with age?
Yes. It peaks between 20 and 30, then falls gradually. Menopause itself doesn’t cause a drop.4,5 In two long-term studies of women in midlife, it fell by about 1.5% to 2.8% a year.4 That’s why Labcorp’s range for women starts at 110 µg/dL at ages 20 to 24, but at 13.9 from age 75.1
Should I take DHEA for fertility?
The evidence says probably not. A 2024 Cochrane review, pooling 9 trials of DHEA with about 1,400 women, mostly ones whose ovaries respond poorly, found it likely makes little or no difference to the chance of a live birth after IVF.7 Europe’s fertility society, ESHRE, recommends against it, whether your ovaries respond poorly or normally to stimulation.8
Is DHEA-S the same as DHEA?
Nearly. DHEA-S is the sulfate form of DHEA. It lasts about a day in your blood, so its level is about a thousand times higher than DHEA’s and barely changes through the day. That makes it the more useful one to measure.1
Often checked alongside
Test details
- Labcorp test
- Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) Sulfate, 004020
- LOINC
- 2191-5
- Sample
- Blood
- Fasting
- Not needed
- Time of day
- Any. Levels vary little through the day.1
- Typical lab range
- Depends on age and sex. At 25 to 34, 84.8 to 378.0 µg/dL for women and 138.5 to 475.2 µg/dL for men1
- Units
- µg/dL in the US. For µmol/L, divide by about 37.
- Biotin
- Stop biotin supplements at least 72 hours before the test.1
Sources
- 1 Labcorp. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) sulfate, test 004020. Labcorp test menu. Accessed October 28, 2026. www.labcorp.com/tests/004020/dehydroepiandrosterone-dhea-sulfate
- 2 Teede HJ, Tay CT, Laven JJE, et al. Recommendations from the 2023 international evidence-based guideline for the assessment and management of polycystic ovary syndrome. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2023;108(10):2447–2469. doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgad463
- 3 Martin KA, Anderson RR, Chang RJ, et al. Evaluation and treatment of hirsutism in premenopausal women: an Endocrine Society clinical practice guideline. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2018;103(4):1233–1257. doi.org/10.1210/jc.2018-00241
- 4 Wierman ME, Arlt W, Basson R, et al. Androgen therapy in women: a reappraisal: an Endocrine Society clinical practice guideline. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2014;99(10):3489–3510. doi.org/10.1210/jc.2014-2260
- 5 Bornstein SR, Allolio B, Arlt W, et al. Diagnosis and treatment of primary adrenal insufficiency: an Endocrine Society clinical practice guideline. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2016;101(2):364–389. doi.org/10.1210/jc.2015-1710
- 6 Elhassan YS, Idkowiak J, Smith K, et al. Causes, patterns, and severity of androgen excess in 1205 consecutively recruited women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2018;103(3):1214–1223. doi.org/10.1210/jc.2017-02426
- 7 Naik S, Lepine S, Nagels HE, et al. Androgens (dehydroepiandrosterone or testosterone) for women undergoing assisted reproduction. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2024;6(6):CD009749. doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD009749.pub3
- 8 ESHRE Guideline Group on Ovarian Stimulation; Ata B, Bosch E, et al. ESHRE guideline: ovarian stimulation for IVF/ICSI: an update in 2025. Hum Reprod. 2026;41(4):498–514. doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deag018
- 9 Nair KS, Rizza RA, O’Brien P, et al. DHEA in elderly women and DHEA or testosterone in elderly men. N Engl J Med. 2006;355(16):1647–1659. doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa054629
- 10 Beuschlein F, Else T, Bancos I, et al. European Society of Endocrinology and Endocrine Society joint clinical guideline: diagnosis and therapy of glucocorticoid-induced adrenal insufficiency. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2024;109(7):1657–1683. doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgae250
Updated 28 Oct 2026.
This is general health information, not medical advice: talk to your clinician about your results and before changing any treatment.